Tag Archives: Deathcake

I don’t like coffee. At all. I was one of those kids who ran past the ‘grind your own beans’ booths at the grocery store because the smell made me nauseous. I still can’t drink coffee, and I at least only find the smell mildly unpleasant now. Even so, I love taking opportunities to expand my coffee and food horizons.

In general, though, I’m a cocoa kind of girl – or, while I was waiting yesterday at Cupcake Royale, a steamed milk with vanilla kind of girl. The chain was hosting a coffee/spirits/Deathcake tasting at all of their locations, and I ventured out into the cold to try the Deathcake out in the name of culinary science. For the uninitiated (read: those not from the Seattle area), the Deathcake Royale is an homage to all that is good and sugary: Theo chocolate cake, Stumptown coffee ganache, and fleur de sel, topped with a wee confetti heart. At $3, it’s a tiny, not super cheap little bite of richness, but everyone swore up and down it was worth it. But I was still nervous.

I was nervous because when I hear ‘coffee ganache,’ I think of two possible variations: ganache using coffee to enhance the chocolate, and ganache with the coffee flavor front and center. Given that it was Stumptown coffee being used, I assumed that that ingredient would be the star of the show, and I had been selectively avoiding this Valentine’s Day tradition for years. I was woefully mistaken. The ganache is lovely and delicate, holding in the rich chocolate center. The fleur de sel can be a bit overpowering, but that helps it to linger as you savor your Deathcake. I totally snuck another morsel, and then went to buy more for later.

Also in attendance was Stumptown, which I still sadly avoided (though I adore their Mast Brothers cocoa), and Pacific Distillery’s absinthe, which was heady of anise in a way that made my nose tingle. But I was really too distracted by the Deathcake for alcohol. Another day, maybe.

If you’re not a fan of chocolate with coffee, but adore chocolate, I definitely feel you should try to get your hands on one, and at least give it a shot. But do so soon, for I just bought a three pack, and they stop selling them for the year on February 14th.